Magical Bond
by Lazorrock
Summary: Two years have passed since Ralph's game leaping adventure. His life in the arcade is good, but an encounter with a lonely girl named Lucy would change everything. Will this new bond be what it takes to rekindle a magic once lost? Or will a new, rising evil tear this new blossoming friendship apart?


**A/N: Alright, before we get into this story, I need to explain a few things. **

**First, this is a rewrite to my story Magical Bond Between Two Hearts. Yes I know, I'm rewriting the story that isn't done? Well there's a reason for this.**  
**My style of writing has changed within the years that I've made this story. And I've noticed how parts of it do not match in the style I write in now. And unfortunately, I found myself in a corner I couldn't get out of. So I decided to take a fresh look and delve into where the story would go. And after months, I finally have a good starting point.**

**To be honest I'm a bit nervous, since it took me quite some time to get this up. But it's a leap of faith that I'm willing to take. And as always, I am interested to see what you guys think.**  
**So without any further delay, here is the Prologue to Magical Bond.**

"Please stop."

"Why, stupid firefly?"

He pushed her to the ground, a few other kids circling around the poor girl.

"Yeah, Baby Ember. Why should we stop?"

"Please don't call me that."

"How about Mud Hair then?"

"You're being really mean."

Tears were starting to form in the girl's eyes.

"Hey guys, I have an idea."

She yelped as one of the kids pulled her long hair from behind her. She nearly fell backwards before hearing a 'sssht' and the pain subsided.

"Ew, look at all this mud in my hand."

To the girl's horror one of the kids was waving around a long patch of hair. Her hands immediately went to cover her face and were quickly soaked in tears.

"Hey, she looks like a boy now. What a freak."

"Let's go before she starts to rub off on us."

As the children walked away, laughing and snickering, the girl curled up onto the cold floor and wept.

"Lucy! Where did you run off to?"

Raven braids bobbed up and down as the girl continued her search. She looked around the alleyways and streets of the village, through the broken halls of the worse-for-wear castle, until she came to the edge of the town. That was where the child found clumps of brown hair on the dirt floor.

"Sis!"

She followed the small trail of severed locks, until she found a familiar figure curled up on the ground. The girl quickly moved to her side, gently taking a tiny clump of the short strands that remained.

"They picked on you again, Sun Drop?"

The child silently nodded.

"They went too far this time, removing all your pretty hair." She moved the braids away from her shoulders before petting Lucy's head.

"I don't know what to do, Daisy. Every time I want to play with anybody, they push me back down in the dirt."

The girl's face was wet with the continuous drops of tears, looking up at her friend in desperation.

"Well, perhaps they don't see your light yet, Lucy." Her friend smiled as she gently placed a hand on the little girl's.

"Hey, I actually wanted to find you today. I got someplace to show you."

Daisy walked forward, her hand gently tugging her friend along. She could hear her muffled sobs on the way there. The forest grew thicker as they got further away from the village.

"We're not going towards that ghost place, are we?"

"Nope. It's a secret until we get there." Daisy gave her sister a gentle smile.

Lucy quickly moved closer, hugging Daisy's arm. The trees suddenly parted, which lead to a small dirt path going up a semi steep hill.

"We're almost there."

The two girls continued upwards, Lucy never letting go of her sister's arm. When they reached the top, it was unnaturally flat, save for one fifteen-foot stone outcropping. Beyond the rune covered structure was a wide stone tunnel, leading into an inky darkness. Lucy's grip on Daisy's arm tightened as she stared into the black abyss. She feared that something would snatch her away if she looked too long.

"I come to this place whenever I want to get away from it all."

Lucy tore her eyes away from the scary opening to her friend.

"B-But, there could be something bad in there."

"Or something good. Food for thought."

"You scare me sometimes." Lucy paused as her eyes drifted back to the silent darkness. "What kind of good things?"

"Let's see." Daisy took a step forward, gently taking her arm away from Lucy's grabby hands. "There could be more worlds to explore. Someplace where our magic will fit right in."

"Even mine?"

"Of course, my little Sun Drop."

The small girl found comfort in these thoughts. "Maybe you're right. After all, it couldn't be much worse, right?"

Daisy led Lucy to the edge of the woods, the sun just setting behind the mountains. The small girl was sad again from the bullying earlier that day, wanting to get away. They stopped in a small clearing just before the trees got thick.

"There's nothing here." Lucy looked around the empty area.

"Just wait a minute."

The girls were silent as nighttime fell over the land. As the last rays of sunlight faded, the ground slowly started to glow a warm color. The little girl gasped as many tiny light bugs hopped from one grass stalk to the next.

"Fireflies?"

Daisy nodded and grinned. Lucy felt a small warmth stir in her heart watching them go.

"But, they call me a firefly all the time."

Daisy moved her braids behind her shoulders before kneeling down to get a better look at the insects.

"I would take that name as a compliment, honestly," she replied holding out a finger to one of them, "They break the darkness with their small lights. Their glow may be weak, but leave a strong impact."

The light bug gently hopped onto Daisy's finger. She then slowly got up and showed it to her sister, their glow bringing out her golden eyes.

"I never thought of it that way." The girl smiled, reaching out towards the firefly before it suddenly flew away with the others.

Years went by, and Lucy grew. She awoke one day to find a glow coming from her shoulder, discovering a strange symbol etched on.

"Sis, you got a magic core!"

"A…what?"

"You know, it represents your element."

Daisy held out her right wrist, showing her core, black shapes surrounding a small blaze.

"I have two cores, one I was born with and one my dad gave me."

"Wow! I wish I had two of them! But uh…what do they do?" Lucy stared down at her sister's symbols.

"Simple. They project your magic stored inside the body. If it gets covered or damaged, your powers can get out of control, or it will stop entirely."

"Can you teach me how to use it?" Lucy asked with big eyes.

"Of course, Sun Drop. Wouldn't want my sis unable to protect herself." Daisy ruffled the girl's hair.

It was a particularly good day for the two girls. Lucy had been left alone so far, and had been spending time with her sister in the village. Her symbol on her shoulder suddenly started to glow, very much like a firefly. Lucy stared at it, wondering what had gotten into her core. That was when she felt a chill in the air. When her eyes looked to the abandoned castle, something didn't quite look right.

"Sis, that's a storm coming isn't it?" she pointed up towards the dark clouds.

Daisy stopped in her tracks once she saw what it was. The whole town seemed to go quiet at this revelation.

"Run!"

Lucy grew fearful as the storm coming towards them began to turn into a horde of shadowy monsters. She couldn't move, nor speak for a moment before feeling someone shake her.

"Lucy! Get out of here!"

"Go?" the girl shook her head, "No, I want to stay with you!"

Daisy wrapped her arms around her friend, holding on tightly. "I need you to go to the secret place. I'll be there as soon as I can, I promise."

Lucy hugged her sister tighter, "I don't want to leave you."

The girl was silent before pulling slightly away, giving her a smile. "You were the sister I always wanted, my little Sun Drop."

The ground shook as the darkness crept closer to the village.

"I have to go now."

With that Daisy regretfully let go and left. She did not see the tears that were streaming down Lucy's face before she took off in the opposite direction.

The girl moved quickly, the village disappearing from sight. However, the swarm of shadows continued to descend upon the land. Lucy only had to look back once to see the monsters moving to catch her. This caused her to keep running. She smiled as soon the secret place came into view. She stopped just at the entrance to the cave, turning around and hoping Daisy would be right behind her. However, there was no sign of her. At first Lucy thought her sister was being held back, but would arrive soon.

"Come on, sis. Come on…"

Lucy flinched as she felt something grab her feet. Looking down to her terror, the dark beasts were wrapping their arms around her ankles. She struggled to break free, feeling her arms getting snatched as well. Lucy squirmed, but could not get out of their grasp, until she saw something fly towards them. The shadows seemed to loosen their grip at the sight of a light zooming by into the dark tunnel. Lucy seeing her chance, struggled as much as she could. She broke free, but not before one of the entities reached their sharp fingers for her face. However, they only left a deep scratch by her eye as she broke free and followed the light into the blackness.

Besides from following a white blur in the distance, Lucy could not see anything in front of her face. The one thing she could tell, was the fact that her cheeks were wet with tears.

"Why? You promised me you would be behind me. Why?"

Her voice echoed through the dimly lit hall.

She eventually found the other end of the path, though the light was barely visible to her. Even so, Lucy followed it without any hesitation. The narrow hallway expanded into a silent, dim room. There weren't any noticeable features she could see, yet in this room there were more pathways.

"Where should I-?" Lucy paused as her eyes stopped at one of them. It shone brighter than the other ones, and the girl was drawn to it, afraid that the monsters would come to find her again. Thinking it would be better to continue on, Lucy moved to the glowing entrance.

A little way down the road it opened up to another huge room, however it was poorly lit as the previous space. The first thing she noticed was the bridge that was in front of her, with more colors than she could count. She glanced around the rest of the area, finding that they were all inaccessible.

"Okay, just follow the bridge." Lucy muttered taking a step onto it. Finding it stable enough, the girl carefully walked across, looking at the many foreboding shapes around her. When she stepped off the other side of the rainbow path, she was met with a strong wind almost knocking her to the ground.

"What the-?"

She braced herself, moving to find a way around the blowing gusts. Her saving grace were the four tall pillars, after the air rose in temperature halfway through. Going around the big structures, she came across a glowing object, but was too scared to go near it. Further down she came across another opening, wondering what was beyond that.

Lucy saw a flickering light projecting out from the tunnel. Without a second thought Lucy ran towards it, drawn to the glow. The narrow hall inside was longer than the rest, her lungs almost giving out before seeing something bright at the end. She paused to catch her breath before slowly coming to the end of the path.

To her surprise, it took her into another huge room, but this time it was properly lit. Lucy felt relieved that she was able to see her hands once more, getting her bearings. It was then she felt the warm trickle down the side of her face.

"Nngh…" she placed a hand to the source, pulling back to see a red liquid on her hands.

"Name?"

The girl flinched at the voice, looking around the area in fear. She heard an electric snap next to her, making Lucy jump and turn to see a strange blue person. She looked up at him in fright, however slightly curious as well.

"Name?" the blue man said again.

"Ah…" she took a step back from whoever this guy was, "L-L-Lucy."

"And what game are you from?"

"Game?" Lucy shook her head, "I'm not from any game…"

He sighed pointing back to where she came from, "Look you came out of this tunnel, the sign says Shining Magic. This is where all game characters come after hours."

The girl frowned, she still wasn't sure what he was talking about. Perhaps she should go back and find another way…

"_BZZT!_"

The electric like sounds made her turn to find the pathway she came from starting to pull away. A loud scraping noise followed, the tunnel disappearing. "Nononono!" Lucy ran towards the gateway that lead her to this place.

"That was the fastest unplugging I've ever come across. Something bad must be going on in there."

By the time she got there however, it was all gone. All that remained was a light that seeped through the three holes left.

"At least you made it out alright."

Lucy turned to the blue man. She didn't know what to say, what to feel at this moment. The only way back home was gone, and she couldn't do anything to bring it back.

"Well, we can try to find you a place to stay. There are a lot of games in this arcade."

"W-Wait…arcade? Games?" Lucy paused frowning, "Where am I?"

The man pushed up his glasses, "Welcome to Game Central Station."


End file.
